NHL ROUNDUP: Devils extend streak to 4 with win over Penguins

Saturday, February 9, 2013

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Adam Henrique and Bobby Butler scored power-play goals 2:12 apart in the third period, and the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday that snapped the Penguins’ five-game winning streak.

Ilya Kovalchuk assisted on the late goals, and defenseman Andy Greene had two assists, including the primary one on rookie Stefan Matteau’s first NHL goal.

Martin Brodeur made 24 saves and provided a little humor by chasing his stick late in the second period of his 1,200th career game. He became the first NHL goalie to reach the milestone.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had a six-game point streak snapped, his longest since a career-high, 25-game run in 2010.

Brandon Sutter scored early for the Penguins, who gave the Devils 10 power-play chances. The teams will play again Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Ponikarovsky broke the scoreless deadlock 5:57 into the third period. The Senators had no answer against Montoya, who replaced an ailing Ondrej Pavelec (flu) and posted his first shutout of the season and third of his NHL career.

The Jets (5-5-1) won for the second time in six games and snapped a three-game road skid.

Ottawa backup Ben Bishop made his second start of the season and was solid in stopping 36 shots. The Senators (6-4-2) have scored just seven goals in past five games, including four in a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

The Senators have lost a pair of 1-0 decisions in that span. Ottawa has allowed only 15 goals in eight games.

LIGHTNING-BRUINS, PPD., SNOWBOSTON (AP) — The game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the host Bruins was postponed because of the blizzard that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the Boston area.

No makeup date had been scheduled yet. Originally scheduled for 1 p.m., the game was pushed back until 7 p.m. to allow the storm to pass. But public transportation was not expected to resume on Saturday, and roads were still being cleared.

COYOTES 1, SHARKS 0, SOSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Mike Smith made 33 saves through overtime and then turned aside two more shots in the shootout to carry Phoenix past San Jose.

The only offense in the entire game was provided by Phoenix’s Mikkel Boedker and Radium Vrbata, who both netted shootout goals against Sharks goalie Antii Niemi.

Smith, who recorded his fourth shutout of the season, made several acrobatic saves, including one in the shootout. Smith has 21 career NHL shutouts.

Niemi stopped 21 shots before the shootout to earn his first shutout of the season and 20th in the NHL.

Smith improved to 14-19 in shootouts, and Niemi fell to 19-13.

San Jose, which has gone to a shootout in four of six games, dropped its second straight tiebreaker.

Smith, who shut out the Sharks three times last season, improved to 6-3-1 in his career against them.